Vinyl News: David Bowie Singles, Third Man Blues Reissues, Remembering HMV, Ice Record
Lots of interesting and creative vinyl news has come out over the last month or so. Highlights include an upcoming exhibition of David Bowie singles covers in England, reissues of important blues recordings via Third Man Records, memories of when the UK's HMV was more than a corporate retail chain and the now well-publicized release of a single on ice from the Shout Out Louds. Despite the fact that some only value vinyl cause it offers another revenue stream, however minor, the creative energy being spent on vinyl is a great example of what people are talking about when they say it's not just a matter of business.
Nacht Musik Exhibition Features Bowie Single Covers
The Vinyl Factory Chelsea will host David Bowie ‘Nacht Musik’ from February 7 to March 3:
"The exhibition…consists of 45 iconic 7” single covers that…date from Starman (1972) to Without You (1984) encompassing Bowie through his many phases from Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane to the Thin White Duke and the Berlin era."
The exhibition catalog will be a limited edition of 300 that includes an "oversized fold out print" showing the single covers and a 7" of a 1978 David Bowie interview.
Document Records Reissues from Third Man Records
Third Man Records is reissuing a series of blue records from Document Records beginning with three from Charley Patton, Blind Willie McTell and The Mississippi Shieks.
Not only are they retrieving a huge batch of music history but reissuing remastered recordings on limited edition colored vinyl with new artwork by Rob Jones that gives the releases a contemporary feel yet remains connected to the past.
Remembering the Old Days at HMV
UK-based entertainment media retailer HMV has seen its final days and, despite reduced music sales, it is a serious blow for music labels including a variety of indie labels.
Though HMV has a mixed image of destroying indie record shops while still being a major outlet for indie music, Alexis Petridis looks back to his youth when HMV offered a more unique and meaningful experience:
"It didn't seem like visiting a branch of a vast faceless corporate monolith. In fact, it seemed like a portal into a slightly illicit, transgressive alternate universe. The walls at the rear were covered in punk 7" singles. There were picture sleeves and coloured vinyl pressings and imports."
"There was a single called 99% Is Shit by The Cash Pussies, which I remember boggling at: aged nine, it seemed utterly inconceivable that someone had made a record with the word 'shit' in the title…All of it was thrillingly suggestive of a world very different from that of the Top 40 display at Woolworths or Smith's."
Shout Out Louds – Blue Ice, The Ice Record Project
Working with TBWA Stockholm, Shout Out Louds are promoting their upcoming album "Optica" with a limited editon of ten kits for making your own ice record. The resulting frozen disc actually plays a single off Optica called Blue Ice.
Optica is due February 26 in the States from Merge Records and includes a traditional vinyl release.
More:
- 2012 Top 10 Selling Vinyl Albums, Vinyl Sales Rise In The U.S. And UK
- Classical vinyl: what goes around comes around
- FAT BOYS Pizza Box Vinyl Picture Disc Reissue for Record Store Day
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/App.net) also blogs at Crowdfunding For Musicians (@CrowdfundingM) and All World Dance: Videos. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
